I'm not for an IMF program that throws peanuts at us — Gabby

Gabby Otchere-Darko, a staunch member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has resurrected the old conversation of Ghana seeking support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) following the crisis that has plagued Ghana's economy.

“Am I against an IMF program in principle? No,” he stated.

His assertion was contained in a series of tweets on Monday, June 27, 2022, monitored by Modernghana News.

Mr. Otchere Darko stressed that he does not support an IMF policy that will impose unnecessary conditions on Ghanaians and will probably make life very unbearable.

“I am not for an IMF program that throws peanuts at us but imposes conditions that will end up hurting the poor, jobs and businesses more. Covid-19 and War in Ukraine are not of Africa's doing but more to our doom. A program that pretends it is all our doing is doomed to fail.

“We do something that will inject confidence in our capacity to ride this heavy storm and that something should happen pretty quickly. Are you against an IMF program?” his tweets read.

To him, the post-COVID-19 effects and the negative impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war have affected African countries badly, which is the reason there is a need for Ghana to seek help after all alternatives seem to have failed.

“If our programmes fail us and we are not able to get the confidence and the results in the fiscal space discipline, which we have to impose on ourselves, then we don’t have a choice,” he tweeted further.

Prior to this assertion by Mr. Otchere, the deputy minister for Finance, Mr. John Kumah, had disclosed in an interview with JoyNews, an Accra-based television station, that the government may consider seeking help from the IMF if their numerous attempts to bring the economy back to life fail.

“If it [bringing the economy back to life] becomes impossible, then it is the only alternative to salvage our economy. But where we are now, we think we are in the position to salvage the economy or to try the homegrown policy we are adopting,” he said.